XLII
I LEAVE MONGOLIA

FOR many months after my arrival in Mongolia
I thought of nothing but my return to Hungary
and my spirits revived or drooped according to the
turn of events which determined my chances of
continuing the journey to my native country. Then,
for years and years, marriage, absorption in my work
as an architect and joint manager of the Urga power
works, as well as my love of Mongolia and its people,
caused me to forget my home-sickness, and even when
financial considerations ceased to count it never
occurred to me to pay at least a brief visit to Hungary.
But apparently the psychological state that is called
home-sickness was always there in my subconscious
mind, and in the summer of 1929, after a nine years*
stay in Mongolia, I was seized with a fierce longing for
my native land which I could not and would not
repress.

Accordingly, after many talks with my wife, I
applied to the Government for release from my
contract and a passport. Had I been an ordinary
Mongolian citizen, or a foreigner without connection
with the State, I should have had to go to the police
and ptove my "political trustworthiness" before being
allowed to leave the capital* I should also have had to

[z64]